Categories for Brand Development

When you’re looking at an advertisement, what are the first few things you notice? A good advertisement will strike your interest, usually by a logo or tagline. An excellent advertisement is recognizable and memorable. It draws our attention and we instantly relate the logo to said product or company. A perfect example is that of the following logos. Can you name these brands?

McDonald’s and Facebook both utilize a simple letter in their logos. Starbucks is one the most recognized brands in the country from their famous siren. Target uses the iconic target symbol, and even tends to plaster their cute mascot on everything! One of the most noticeable things about each logo, though, is their color scheme. After all, when my four-year-old gets hungry on a road trip, I tell her to look for “the golden arches” – and she notices them every time.
The first thing that we experience in anything is the visual aspect. In other words, characteristics such as fonts, symbols, and colors are the first things that we notice. Color sets a mood; studies have even shown that painting the walls of a student’s bedroom can help influence how well they study. So it’s no wonder that the color of your advertising can have such a huge impact on whether or not a prospective costumer will use your product or service. In fact, there is an entire field of research devoted to “color psychology.” It’s basically a bunch of people who sat around and figured out how color affects a person’s emotions, including things such as impulse control, how long a person will browse in a store, and triggers of hunger. Check out this chart for a simple way to see how colors can affect an individual’s purchasing decisions.
Color gives power to an advertisement, giving subtle suggestions to customers. Red portrays energy and quickly catches the eye. Blue displays emotion and connection. Green typically represents an eco-friendly product or company. By focusing on what your company stands for and the ideas that it wants to exude, you can choose the best colors to use in your marketing.
Simple is usually best. If you want to project professionalism while letting clients know that you’re still a driven company, a sleek product with a pop of color may be the best way for you to go.Figure out what works best for you. Discover the vibe of your company, utilize your resources, and draw in your customers. Do this and you will always make an impression!

As summer quickly comes to an end, we are all anticipating the back to school hustle and bustle. Teachers are finalizing lesson plans, kids are trying to get in their last few weeks of freedom, and parents are anxiously awaiting the day for the kids to get out of their hair again.Other than lesson plans, teachers have plenty more to think about and prepare. How will they use their creative juices to keep their students engaged? How will they decorate their classrooms? And what will make them memorable as a teacher? Educators also tend to think about how they can promote not only education, but their schools. Everyone has seen the “My kid is the best student ever at Such-and-Such Middle School.” Of course, there’s also banners for high school football championships, t-shirts for field day, and table covers for PTA meetings. Many times, a school district has what is called a Purchasing Department to fulfill the role of the getting these done. Just like any other company, they take bids from vendors and make sure that their budget allows for whatever they need. On the other hand, teachers usually have to provide their own supplies for their classrooms. This means not only things for the bulletin boards and posters for the room, but anything that helps distinguish the teacher and the school. Often times, teachers will pay out of their own pockets to buy T-shirts for their students to go on a field trip. PTAs also tend to order an outrageous amount of products displaying the school logo, name, etc. They sell these at fundraisers, do giveaways, and may even use them to promote future events.
So why are these so important to our school systems? In some cases, it’s simply related to school spirit. Students who express school spirit become better students. They perform better academically and are more active in school issues, as well as civil matters. More involvement and commitment to their education results in lower dropout rates. Many schools and districts will also use these items to boost enrollment. Colleges, in particular, try to boost their enrollment by passing out all sorts of pens, stickers, hats, etc., at college fairs. What better way to rack in more students – and more money – than by having a high schooler stare at a pen for eight hours a day, all while this pen is etched with your college’s name?
It is well known that teachers don’t get paid nearly enough (especially what they have to put up with) and school budgets are constantly strained. This is why affordable promotional products are so important. While big businesses can be a consistent customer and winning solution for your company, who wants to turn down business? Schools and teachers can be turned away from companies providing promotional items simply due to cost.
As a former educator, I know how important it can be to stamp your name on everything. Whether it’s your own name, your school’s name, or even your students’ names, putting it out there can help not only the students, but it can also help the teacher!It’s nice to have reminders that the job you are doing is worth it every day.

It’s not the idea of repetition that’s we’re questioning here. Repeating your message is key. It’s the number. Why 7?
You’ve heard it often enough, people need to see an ad 7 times before they remember it. This Rule of 7 is most often quoted by people in advertising with such confidence that you would expect to find tons of studies to back the claim. Not so. What we found was a fascinating piece from @successfulsw that takes a hard look at the science behind that all too readily accepted number.
The evidence to back the Rule of 7 theory, as the author finds, is limited. There aren’t reams of statistics, surveys dating back years, or journals full of research to back the claim. There’s only one study to be found, from 1989 no less, and this mentions no magic number. Seven just took over somewhere along the way.

We’ve talked about this before, two years ago and then again earlier this year. It bears repeating, as now is the best time of year to order your own imprinted promotional calendars and be ready for the New Year. We’ve wondered in the past if tech had given the trusty promotional calendar the boot. It hadn’t.Technology marches on, and so we’re asking again. Has the imprinted promotional calendar seen its heyday? Has tech taken over? These days there are any number of electronic calendars to keep you on schedule and yet the imprinted calendar remains. It has permanence. You can touch it, use it anytime. And then, not every living soul on the planet is comfortable with technology or wants to use it every second of every day.
The latest research from PPAI shows that in 2011 a full 80% of homes and businesses continued to use a printed calendar. Here’s my (non scientific) thinking as to why that might be… (more…)

You’ve probably noticed a few familiar company logos (Google, Verizon) have changed their look recently. Not anything drastic, more of a refresh and acknowledgement that we all view these logos on many different devices.How does this apply to your business?It shows how very important a logo is to a business.
The company logo is the face of your business, your first impression and professional stamp. There is a reason companies hire professionals to design them. Creating one looks simple (a 4 year old could do it, right?), until you sit before a blank screen and try to do it. There are an endless number of fonts to use, as well as styles like bolding, italics and underlining. Text spacing comes into play. Graphics and color must also be considered. (more…)

It’s true, the signs are all there. Heat waves are harder to take. Days at the beach don’t hold the allure they once did. We get annoyed at the ice cream melting all over us before we can finish it. Barbecues have become routine. We’ve reached the point in the season where the idle days of summer are drawing to a close, numbered now in single digits as fall schedules take shape.
Going back to school or not, there is something about this time of year that has all of us ready to switch gears. Change is in the air. Which makes this the perfect time to get to work on your plans for promoting your business this fall.
This season offers lots of opportunities to build business.Back to School(more…)

If you think about how many signs you see in one day it’s probably a far larger number than you expect. Like the song says, they’re everywhere. Good signs attract attention, educate or provide vital information. They help you stand out. What makes a good sign. Readability. Location. Durability. How do you make a sign readable?

Less is more, as few words/symbols as possible

Dark letters, light background

Thicker, chunkier letters rather than fine, fancy fonts

Simple graphics

How do you locate a signso more people will see it? Put it in front of as many pairs of eyes as possible. Anyone who’s driven in traffic knows that vehicle signs provide a nice source of distraction while sitting there waiting for things to move. It’s a great way to expose your company, and contact details to a wide, varied (some might say captive) audience. Lots of eyes, all looking for something else to look at besides break lights. (more…)

It’s an old expression that’s a perfect fit for what happens when companies set about cutting expenses without thinking about the harm they do to themselves in the process.
The first place cost cutters turn when looking to cut expenses is marketing, rooting around for savings by eliminating products that on the surface can be judged frivolous. Give aways, magnets, pens, mugs are all easy targets — giving anything away (imprinted or not) when money is tight seems wrong. Yet these hardworking items have a lower cost per impression than other ways of getting your message out. Things like newspapers, TV and radio spots.
Many companies, schools and non profits know how effective promotional products are. Politicians know it too, though they sometimes (most recently in Oklahoma) pretend they don’t. Whenever you hear such foolish talk, think about this. If promotional products were not affordable and effective ways to build awareness, to get a message out, would politicians be using these items themselves to win elections? Probably not.(more…)

Mugs are an incredible way to promote your business, cause or event. Not only are there limitless choices of color, size and style, but there’s lots of room for whatever message suits your need.Here too you have lots of options. Business name and logo? Always a winner and a lasting reminder. Tag line you use for your business? Awesome choice. Your logo/mascot alone? Cool.Mug lovers rave about their favorite bit of drinkware… (more…)